Petra Kvitova Holds Off Madison Keys For The Bronze Medal At Rio Olympics

Petra Kvitova won the first singles medal at the Rio Olympics earlier today holding off American Madison Keys 7-5, 2-6, 6-2.

“I’m still a bit emotional, so if I cry, sorry,” the 2-time Wimbledon champion Kvitova said. “It means almost everything, definitely. Having a medal from the Olympics is one of the best things to happen in my career definitely, along with the two Wimbledon titles and winning Fed Cups and WTA [Finals]… I’m very proud that I could bring it to the Czech Republic.”

It was the first Czech medal in tennis after Jona Novotna won bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

“I had so many troubles with injuries, with the health and everything,” added the lefty. “I couldn’t really find the best tennis in me.

“I’m so happy that I saved my best tennis for this event.”

After a great run, Keys lost her last two matches, both to lefties.

“This was an amazing experience and no badly how much this hurts today, there are so many positive to take away from it, I would never trade that in for anything,” the 21-year-old Keys said.

The Czechs also won bronze in doubles when Barbora Strycova and Lucie Safarova beat teammates and 2012 silver medalists Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka 7-5, 6-1.